A daily selection from 150 years ago today in the "Official Records of the War of the Rebellion".

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

October 30, 1863 (Saturday): Bragg Explains The Trouble With Longstreet to Davis

General James Longstreet

MISSIONARY RIDGE, October 30, 1863.
His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS,
Savannah, Ga.:
On the night of 26th the enemy crossed a force to this side of river
below Lookout Mountain and drove Lonsgtreet's outpost back. As soon as
informed, I directed him to retake the position. Failing to do so during
the day of 27th, I renewed the order at night, placing his two and
Walker's division at his disposal, and directed the troops to move
before daylight. The attack was not made up to 10 a. m., when Longstreet
joined me on Lookout Mountain, where I went to witness. I learned no
disposition were made for it. [At] 12 m. a column of the enemy, probably
two brigades, appeared on the road from Bridgeport and formed a
junction with the forces which had crossed. The cavalry on the left
under Longstreet had given no notice of this move. That night (the 28th)
Longstreet asked for another division as a support to his attacking
column. It was given. He informed me he should attack with one brigade. I
ordered him not to do so with less than a division. He moved a division
to the vicinity, but attacked with one brigade, surprised the enemy and
routed him, but he rallied on finding the small attacking force, drove
it back with heavy loss, and secured his position. We have thus lost our
important position on the left, and the enemy holds the railroad within
six miles of Chattanooga, and from there, by dirt road and pontoon
bridge, to the rear of his position. He has brought forward heavy
re-enforcements by this route.

BRAXTON BRAGG.

Official Records, Series I., Vol. 52, Part 2, Page 566.

Longstreet had, by failing to use sufficient force in Lookout Valley to prevent Hazen's securing the Brown's Ferry landing, cost the Confederates a chance to starve out the Union force. He then delayed obeying Bragg's positive orders to counterattack, and when he did employed only a part of his force when he could have used his entire corp and overwhelmed the Union force. Afterwards, he blamed his own officers, and preferred charges against Evander Law (later dropped due to the needs of the service). Those who would defend Longstreet, and lay his postwar reputation at the feet of "The Lost Cause Narrative", fail to consider that when he went West the same patterns of delay, poor deployment, and denial of responsibility went with him.

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The 150th anniversary of the war has sparked a number of bloggers to build blogs that are reports on this day in the Civil War and (from what I've seen) do it very well. By focusing solely on what is in the Official Records (O.R.) my goal is to give you a look behind the major events at how the actors perceived what was unfolding before them. It is not possible to paint a comprehensive picture, but my hope is these brief posts will motivate readers to go off exploring on their own to fill in the blanks.

In addition to reports on major battles, there will occasionally be posts dealing with odd characters, misunderstandings, bitterness, and even humorous events. Because at the end of the day, war is an undertaking which exposes the best and worst in human nature.